TikTok’s queen of glam has come under fire for making out-of-touch remarks about being an influencer.
With over 13.5 million followers and counting, Mikayla Nogueira has become one of the biggest beauty creators on social media, finding TikTok fame in 2020 for her realistic product reviews, easy-to-follow tutorials, and down-to-earth personality.
Now, fans are questioning if success has changed the 24-year-old, as a resurfaced clip began circulating TikTok this week in which Mikayla complains about how hard she works as a social media influencer.
“I’m feeling like a f—ing asshole today, so I’m going to fire back at people because I’m tired,” Mikayla said on TikTok back in 2021 in response to a comment that told her to “report to a job 9-5”.
“Every single day, I get up at 6AM. I spend about 5-6 hours filming video content that ranges from 3-4 videos and then I spent a few hours editing that video content,” she clapped back. “Then I have to work on my other social media profiles, whatever it may be.”
Mikayla went on to say that she’s then in meetings from 12-5PM, claiming she “literally just finished working” at 5:19 that day.
“Try being an influencer for a day, try it. Because the people who say it’s easy are so far out of their minds. Try it for a day,” she challenged.
While the video received backlash when it was first posted last year, it’s gone viral again in recent days, with thousands of people sharing their work schedule to the sound of Mikayla saying, “I literally just finished working, it’s 5:19. Try being an influencer for a day, try it.”
Creator Tayler Limas added context to the discourse, explaining that an “influencer’s hours from 9-5 do not equal the same amount of payout and energy spent as somebody working a regular 9-5.”
“Is influencing still a job? Yes it is. Can it still have its difficulty? Yes. But an influencer can post a minute video and make $5,000. That would take the average person 4 weeks or more to make that same amount,” she says on why people have taken offence to Mikayla’s video.
Others have come to the beauty guru’s defence like creator Melissa Tovar, who notes that Mikayla was only 23 when she made that video. Given her age, Melissa says that it’s not likely Mikayla had a lot of work experience prior to becoming a full-time influencer, and thus she probably has little to compare this experience to.
Some viewers have taken issue with Melissa’s justification, as Mikayla started her TikTok account while working at Ulta Beauty and therefore, she would have some understanding of the grueling realities of shift work.
The backlash over Mikayla’s statement comes off the heels of a larger discussion that took place on the platform this month about users wanting to follow creators that also work 9-5 jobs, as viewers struggle to relate to full-time influencers.
While the full-time influencer isn’t going away any time soon, there’s no denying that audience expectations are shifting when it comes to those they choose to support.
Mikayla has not addressed the backlash or the resurfaced clip at the time of writing.